Well, Preciosa-Ornela really want beaders to get excited about these Czech beads so they are offering a huge collection of beads (shown above) including the twin beads for one lucky winner of this giveaway. Isn't it just a delightful blend of colors?

They also sent me an equivalent collection in teal blue for review. I wasn't kidding when I said huge. I put the bag on my scale and it is more than 1 lb!

One of the best things about Czech beads are their color range and bead finishes. The collection included opaque, color-lined, silver-lined, metallic and pearly seed beads. The larger farfalle beads are at the bottom right.

I wondered what the twin beads could do for other jewelry makers who are not into bead work. So I experimented and here are the results. The double hole beads can indeed act as tiny connectors in wire designs. However, if you are going to do the same, use 22G or finer wire. 20G wire does not go through most twin beads.

I made the upside down triangle form using a Toblerone chocolate box as a mandrel as mentioned in my triangular jewelry tutorial post. I hammered the frame flat before wiring in lengths of beads. The clear twin beads were added in intervals so that I could feed random short lengths of scrap sterling silver through them. After curving these wire scraps, I just wired them to the frame. As you can see, the extra wire bits filled in the gaps.

Here is a close-up to show what I mean :

Although you could omit the twin beads as you can see from the triangular project I did before which also used the Preciosa-Ornela beads.

Another design I attempted was the double wired tear drop pendant which also put the greyish twin beads to good use :

(I must add that this was one of the most difficult photo shoots I have ever done - a lot of silver and transparent beads make it challenging). It would have been next to impossible without the Modahaus setups I have.)

Giveaway
Now all the above projects barely made a dent into the large collection of beads so it will keep a beadaholic happy for quite a while.

If you would like to be that lucky beadaholic, then try your luck with the giveaway. All you have to do is make a comment below. Subscribers need to click on the post title to come to my actual blog. Scroll down and enter your comment. Pick Name/URL. If you don't have a store or blog, leave the URL blank

Extra entries if you become or are a blog subscriber or are an existing GFC follower (I no longer have the widget for new followers) etc . If you also do shout outs, those will count as additional entries too! Preciosa-Ornela are also on Facebook and Twitter.

Please say so in the comments.

This international giveaway ends in a week's time at 6 pm EST Monday, March 26, 2012.

Wow - looks like a FUN bunch of beads - I would love to win:) I'm a blog subscriber and I look forward to your email every morning. I love to see what new things you find. I also follow you on Facebook.

WOW Pearl I am excited about this one. I am lining up for this fabtabulous opportunity this is absotively posilutely such a generous giveaway... So please enter my name in the pot I have tweeted about it and left a facebook comment on the Preciosa-Ornela facebook page. I will place the giveaway on my blog also even though all this publicity lowers my chances I can't be sneaky and selfish I have to share...ty ty ty to all who are involved in this giveaway ty

Beautiful Designs. Love the colors. Sooo many designs swirling around in my head...what I could design with all those shades and shapes. The possibilities are endless. Thanks for keeping us in the loop for all these great products and components. Helps to encourage our creative side!!

Someone is going to be ridiculously happy when this give-away is won. What a beautiful project inspiring stash. I mentioned it on FB and Twitter, I'm a blog follower and I'm crossing toes. (Sorry but fingers are busy, there's beading to do!)InaRae

Picture a sunset and the tropical sea shimmering with glimpses of the reef below. this collection of beads, coupled with some aura and byzantine elements, begs to become a series of pieces that infuses an ocean paradise into every day.

ey you can never know how much I would love to win these beautiful beads from Precilsa-Ornela. I got in on the free twin bead giveaway and became a huge fan of their beads. I'm going to copy the link for this contest to my beading page. Comox Valley Beaders and Wrappers. Thanks for the chance. Finger crossed and praying. Thanks Bonnie Goudie Vance.

Love these amazing opportunities to win beads and books, etc. They always help a designer expand their knowledge base, and also serve as great inspiration to create new, exciting pieces.....thank you for giving us this wonderful chance to win some gorgeous beads.....loves ya (hope I win ! :) ) xo~diane

Ok, giveaways like these always bring everyone out of the wordwork, including me! I wanted to tell you that I *love* the work you did connecting wire pieces with the twin beads. I've already played a bit with the twins, but I am mainly a beadweaver and I don't think I would ever have thought to connect pieces of wire in that way! Since I am really trying to incorporate more metal into my repertoire, I think using the twin beads would be a help to me as a novice -- the beads would act as a guide to help me get my wires to stay where I want them to be! Thanks for posting about that and pointing out such beauties, and taking the time out to get such great photos despite the difficulties. I am definitely pleased to have that idea floating around in my mind. Whether or not I win the giveaway. Um, of course I'd still like to win ;-) I need to encourage my family to stop calling the spare room the spare room and start calling it what my brother named it when he stayed over in that room... He called it 'the bead room' and I definitely want to encourage my family to catch on to that. More beads could only help me in that endeavor!! Thanks again for all your work.--AllieOh yeah, I cannot WAIT until those large peanut beads become available!

These beads are gorgeous. I would love to win the blue ones. But, if I won the orange ones, I wouldn't complain about that either. I am new to Preciosa Ornela beads and they are so exciting. The possibilities are endless and I have beady dreams floating in my head all the time. Time to pick up a needle and thread and use some of that imagination!!!

Wow .. such a generous give away .. plz count me in ! im relatively new to bead work and your designs have me gaping at them all day long ! :) ive always been fascinated with colours and the way you bring them out in your works is just amazing !

Give away or not ... im truly a fan of your work! plz keep helping ppl like us through your tutorials. and hey im a subscriber and a FB fan too !

I love the Beading Gem. It's the first thing I look for with my morning coffee. With my love of encrusting heavy wire pendants, I'm so excited about this giveaway. I follow BG on Facebook. I've done a shout out on my 2 favorite forums as well...Bead Chat and Wire Wrap Jewelry Artists. Thanks for this opportunity.

You're AWESOME! Love opening your emails, it's like Christmas for beaders! Did a post for this giveaway on Facebook, hope that doesn't bring in to much competition for the giveaway! Hey, if you get a chance, check me out on Etsy! Thanks, Michelle

My sister and I just got back from buying beads (including Czech beads) from Rings & Things while they were in Dallas today! How awesome would it be to add more to our collection! Thanks for the opportunity to win.

I'm so glad I came to visit the blog in search of something else. Don't know how I missed seeing this on posting day, but I'm really glad I got in before the deadline. Thanks to you and Preciosa for such an awesome giveaway!